The Hermit and the Queen
by areyouserial
Summary: It started with a fortune cookie and ends up with a bit of magic. The forces of the universe are all but screaming at Jamie and Eddie but who's going to take that risk and listen? My take on a quiet night off in downtown Manhattan where Eddie leads Jamie to look closer at his past, present and his future.


_**A/N:** Just a one-shot carryover from the impossibly cute 8x12 Dim Sum conversation. Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

"So what's the risk?"

Eddie wonders the question aloud as she plucks the plastic wrapper off a peppermint.

"Thank you," Jamie calls back to the hostess who wishes them a good night on their way out of the restaurant. "What's that?"

"The risk I'm not taking." She pops the candy into her mouth. "I mean, wouldn't you say I'm pretty risky on a daily basis? What more could I do?"

Joining her on the sidewalk, he slips his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket and takes a moment to consider it. "Maybe you're just meant to recognize the greatest risk you've already taken. Right?"

"Becoming a cop?"

Jamie offers an easy shrug. "Yeah. Think about all you'd be missing out on if you'd never taken that risk and enrolled in the Academy."

Her breathy laugh clouds the chilled air. "I would have never met you."

"See? The risk was worth it, then."

"And then that guy would have never blown me off because I wouldn't have some… hard-headed-"

"Brilliant."

" _Co-worker_ ," she finishes with a giggle, bumping her shoulder into his arm beside her. "To talk about and make other guys run, so. I don't know." An airy sigh escapes her as she pretends to mentally weigh the pros and cons of her life choices. "Maybe I should have gone for my MBA instead."

"Maybe we would've met anyway."

"Ooh." Her eyebrows jump at the notion of Jamie ever entertaining such a scenario. "Under what circumstances?"

"Who knows?" They dodge a crowd gathered on the sidewalk at one of the vendors and move to cross the street together. "Probably while I'm writing you a ticket for that Porsche you can't park-"

"You!" She huffs.

He chuckles the rest of his teasing insult when Eddie's quick to latch onto him, smacking a palm against his upper arm.

"You'd better watch out by the end of the week."

"Why's that?" He drapes an arm around her shoulders as they turn onto a quieter street.

They're in close proximity all the time; the move doesn't faze her at first. But the way she fits against him, easy and nearly perfect - that awareness starts to settle in her chest.

"Because I'll take you out with my expert moves." She mimes an attack with an elbow to his middle.

As his arm slides up, he tugs her in closer at the bend in his arm with a friendly little jostle just before his grasp on her falls away.

"I have no doubt that you would," he muses.

Taking a quiet moment, she appreciates the simple nearness of him, a calming presence when her mind has been racing with unanswered questions. "Well since you have nowhere to be in the morning…" She hooks an arm around his, gripping the familiar warmth of the soft leather jacket.

"I didn't say that."

"Which means you're in no hurry to get home tonight."

Amused, he shakes his head but humors her anyway.

"And we're all the way downtown, I think we should get our tarot cards read."

"What?" He cries. "No way."

"Yes! Let's do it, please." She rises up on her toes beside him as she tugs on his arm. "I know a place just over on Broome. It's legit-"

Jamie hisses a laugh in disbelief. "It's legit," he echoes in a murmur. "I told you, I'm not into that stuff."

"Oh, but you're into… making a perfectly reasonable fortune cookie about having sex with each other."

"For fun!" He chuckles beside her.

"Well consider this just for fun," she pleads. "Come on, Reagan."

With a heavy sigh, he glances over at her and she offers him one of her most convincing grins.

"I will sit there," he finally concedes. "While you do whatever is involved in that-"

"While you get a reading? Perfect."

* * *

In a few blocks, they make their way out of Chinatown and find themselves on the Lower East Side. Bustling tiny streets give way to sleepier avenues, graffiti'd alleyways, and the hum of live music from nearby lounges. At the end of the block, Eddie spots the shop of the psychic medium she had wandered into once before.

"If she tells me I'm cursed-" Jamie stops her just as he grasps the door handle of the dimly lit storefront. "-And for a hundred dollars, she can reverse it, I'm shutting it down."

"She won't tell you you're cursed," Eddie insists, her cheek curving with her amusement. "Can you just- for two seconds relax?"

"I'm relaxed." He shrugs with a step back as he pulls open the door.

She leaves him with another sideways glance before she steps across the threshold and leads him through the curtain of beads at the entrance. "Hello?"

From around the corner, a woman, not much older than them, with jingly jewelry announcing her steps greets them with a pleasant smile. "How can I help you this evening?"

"We came for a reading," Eddie provides. Glancing over at Jamie, she notices him assessing the space, his gaze taking stock of the sheer fabrics on the wall, the lamps that glow almost pink, along with the flickering candles. There's a collection of mismatched seats and a simple round table that sits facing the window. "I've been here once before-"

"Of course. I'm Selina. Welcome." The woman offers each of them a handshake.

"I'm Eddie. This is Jamie."

"You want to have a reading together?" She gestures between the two of them as she leads them over to the table.

"No, no-" Jamie attempts.

"Just him," Eddie speaks up.

"What? No."

"Yes! Aren't you curious?"

Jamie glances down and tempers a loud sigh. Then he looks at her once more, his face scrunching in this sort of adorable way while he considers it.

"I'm happy to do a reading for you," Selina says. "Do you have a particular question, or a decision you're contemplating at the moment? If not, that's okay. We can just see where the cards lead us."

"I think Eddie is more…" He drops a hand to her shoulder. "In tune with her contemplation."

"No, come on. We've talked about me way too much lately."

"Jamie, I am really interested in your energy right now," Selina chimes in.

"Oh, here we go," he mumbles up to the ceiling, but he smiles reluctantly.

"That's right. See?" Eddie encourages, nudging him toward the table. "You already have a connection. What kind of reading are we talking here?"

Selina explains her rate for a reading and Eddie settles that before they all take a seat around the table. Jamie sits directly across from her with Eddie at his side.

"I really don't have a question," Jamie contends.

"Let's find out when he's going to get a girlfriend," Eddie suggests. "Can you do like, a love life reading?"

Jamie protests. "No love life readings. I don't want to know."

She huffs in frustration. "I got dumped, _and_ had your back and got suspended this week. Can you please indulge me in this without being a grumbly old man about it?"

"Grumbly old man?" He questions, and the low rasp of his voice when he says it makes a smile twitch at her lips.

"You're so grumbly," she whispers.

He laughs softly. "Okay. I'm indulging you. Let's hear it. Where's my soulmate?"

"Alright," Selina begins, seeming amused at their back and forth as she picks up her cards, shuffling them loosely in her hands. "We can do a simple three-card spread. Past, present, and future. Nothing overwhelming, but when received under the right circumstances can be very powerful."

Jamie acquiesces. "Great."

"Try if you can, Jamie-" Selina gathers her worn, intricately designed deck of cards and places it in front of him on the table. "To focus your thoughts, and channel your energy into the deck."

Eddie has to bite back a smile at Jamie trying his hardest not to roll his eyes.

"I want you to cut the deck in two places," she continues. "Wherever feels right to you. While you let your mind settle, and reflect on what's in your heart right now."

Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Jamie glances up at Selina under an arched brow, then reaches out for the deck. With careful fingers, he lifts half the stack and sets it to the side. She instructs him to separate the pile once more, and he does, taking another smaller stack and placing it to the other side.

Eddie watches as he wordlessly obliges and it's almost as if he appreciates the ritual of it all.

"Okay," Selina approves as she reassembles the deck, sets it to one side, then uses her hand to fan the cards across the table. "With your left hand. I want you to choose three and keep them face-down in front of you."

He eyes the spread, then laying a finger on one card, draws it toward himself. Then another. And hovers his hand over the cards for an extra beat, right to left until it falls on the corner of a third card and he slides it from the line to join his others.

Selina collects the rest of the deck, moves it aside, then reaches out to draw the cards he picked closer to her.

Jamie inhales deeply and eases back in his seat before he sneak a glance over to Eddie. She lets the anticipation in her eyes flash his way before watching the cards as Selina turns them over in the same order he drew them.

In the center of the table, she begins to his left and flips the first over - a stormy grey card featuring a bright red heart pierced by three swords. Beside it, she turns the next showing a cloaked old man who holds a shining lantern. Then the last in the spread of three, a woman wearing a shining crown in a flowing yellow dress who holds a staff in one hand and a sunflower in the other.

Jamie looks on, his forehead creasing with a pause as he waits for an explanation. But Selina sits quietly for a moment. Eddie doesn't know if it's just part of her performance, to heighten the drama or if she's genuinely tapping into some part of Jamie's apparent energy.

"You were engaged," she decides. "Or you were very close to marriage at one point."

Eddie shifts her gaze to see Jamie's Adam's apple bob with a swallow.

Eventually he nods, glancing to the card then back up. "A long time ago."

Selina's fingertips rest on the first card, the one with the heart. "This represents your past. The Three of Swords. It's a pretty sad card." Then she smiles, as if to let the two of them know they don't have to be so serious. "I mean look at it. It's heartbreak. It's rejection. And it's unexpected."

Jamie almost never talks about his past engagement. It was only last year that Eddie even learned about it even though she'd been riding with Jamie for years.

He offers an easy shrug, then exhales a soft laugh. "Yeah. But it's the past," he points to its position.

"Sure," the psychic agrees. "And that's a good place for it to be, right? But we always want to pay attention to how the past connects with the present."

He waves his hand to dismiss it. "That doesn't affect my present. Trust me, that's not… something I dwell on."

"Fair enough," Selina nods, kind dark eyes shining back at him. "Let's leave it there then." Her hand moves to the card in the middle, the one with the man holding a lantern in the dark. "This card reflects your current situation. It's called The Hermit-"

"Ha!" Eddie coughs, earning one of Jamie's unenthused looks that he cuts sideways.

"Seriously?" he wonders.

"Oh my god, you _are_ the hermit," she muses. "I am so pleased by this."

"Yeah I bet you are."

"No, no," Selina soothes. "The Hermit is underrated. He can be a really good card. He is alone, yes, but he represents strong conviction. Awareness of everything behind him. See how he faces left with the lantern? The left symbolizes the past in this case."

Pressing his lips together, Jamie nods slowly and it's a skeptical look that Eddie recognizes.

"Jamie you have quite the powerful energy," Selina tells him. "It's very solid."

With a gradual lift of an eyebrow, Jamie glances over and challenges Eddie with one of his wordless looks. The glow of deep green in his eyes when he smirks isn't lost on her and she shakes her head.

"Don't even-"

"I didn't say it," he contends. "She said it."

" _Solid_ meaning grounded." Selina smiles, joining in with a soft laugh. "Earthly. You know? I'm getting that someone considers you their rock."

Eddie blinks down, fixing her gaze on the card on the table. Out of the corner of her eye, Jamie's smirk softens, the edge of his lips flicking as he simply breathes out a soft hum. She finds herself echoing the noise before she adjusts in her seat.

"Probably." Jamie straightens as he clears his throat. "I'm very solid."

"A solid hermit," Eddie murmurs, earning a quick bump of his knee against her thigh.

Selina laughs again. "When the Hermit appears in a love reading - because whether you wanted it or not, this reading definitely points to love for you. Love is the highest desire of your soul-"

Eddie makes a face, her eyes widen with a knowing satisfaction and Jamie winces, but fails to contain a smile with his breathy laugh.

"I don't know about that," he groans.

"Aw, sport!"

"That's what's coming through in the cards," Selina explains. "When he appears, he humbly acknowledges what he learned of past relationships, shining a light there before leaving it all behind. Sort of like being afraid to go down in the basement, but then you turn on the light and look around and it's no big deal. You let it go. And you exist, grounded in your enlightened present."

Jamie exhales another amused breath and Eddie knows the psychic just about lost him at _enlightened present_ , but he humors her.

"Sounds good," he decides.

"Okay so the future card," Eddie points, springing up in her seat. "Is he a hermit forever?"

"He's certainly not alone forever," Selina answers. "Let's look at your last card."

"Yeah, who's that?" Eddie wonders, leaning in closer to the table.

"In this position, you got the Queen of Wands, which is very interesting to me."

"Interesting," Jamie murmurs. "Interesting how?"

"The Queen of Wands is light. She's the sun. She's charming," Selina describes. "There's a warmth and a strength about her that makes her so easy to love."

Eddie scrutinizes the card, unsure of what to make of it. And weirdly, she's struck with this brief pang of jealousy at whoever this strong and charming girl is who's about to waltz into Jamie's life. "So is that supposed to be him in the future? I mean, even though it's a Queen-"

"Not exactly, no," Selina tells them. Whenever a Court card appears in a reading - Court cards meaning Knights, Queens, Kings, and so on - they almost always represent an actual person who's in your life. So I interpret the Queen of Wands as a lifelong love for you. A deep love. This is one of my favorite cards, especially in a final outcome position."

"So where is she?" Eddie asks. "How is the Hermit supposed to find his Queen?"

Jamie blows out a laugh and leans back in his chair.

"Now the fact that it's in the future position doesn't necessarily mean she's not in your life yet," Selina explains. "It simply means that the discovery of that love, or the fulfillment of that desire that's in your heart lies ahead of you. It hasn't happened yet."

"Someone who's already in your life," Eddie muses. "Now you've made it interesting."

Jamie looks over once again and narrows a playfully accusing gaze at her. "You think it's you, just say it."

A smile threatens Eddie's lips but she plays it off, tapping a pensive finger to her chin. "I was thinking that old lady at the deli who bought you gum the other day-"

"Shut up," he chuckles.

"She was very charming."

"I can tell you she's about your same age," Selina continues. "Which is a good thing. Because an extremely young Queen of Wands can be reckless-"

"No more sorority house parties, Reagan," Eddie pipes up only to receive another nudge from his leg.

"They tend to fall for the wrong guys. But as the Queen learns from her past-" Then she taps the card in the middle again, "-See? Just like the Hermit, they each have a past that strengthens their future connection. As she matures, she discovers who she is and what she needs. To her, you will be a calming influence. And to you, she will be a light that guides you out of the dark."

Jamie sets his gaze on the card, taking a quiet moment to run his hand over his jaw in thought. "My dark hermit cave, huh?"

Selina taps on the Queen card again as she inhales deeply. "Another thing I see, because I see it a lot with this card, and I'm wondering if I see it with you-" She pauses, her brow furrowed and she blinks, as if taking a moment to summon some vision. "Often the Queen of Wands is sort of perceived as The Other Woman."

Eddie sucks in a quiet gasp and it makes a laugh rumble in Jamie's chest.

"What does that mean?" He wonders.

"The Queen of Wands often falls for married men- Which isn't you, because you're not married," Selina reasons.

"No."

"Married to the badge," Eddie offers in a near-whisper.

Selina raises her head. "Ohh. You're in law enforcement?"

Jamie smiles. "Aren't you supposed to know that?" He teases. "That wasn't part of my energy?"

"That's not how it works, Jamie," Eddie tells him.

"I didn't see that exactly when I started your reading," Selina admits. "I saw this sort of fiercely protective element to your life. I saw that very grounded fairness. But I couldn't pinpoint how it manifested itself. But that makes sense now."

"So are you telling him he's going to have an affair?" Eddie asks.

"What you said about him being married to the badge is interesting." Selina pauses again thoughtfully. "When the Queen falls for you, Jamie, and you in turn are overcome with your feelings for her, you will be unavailable in some way. Whether it's because of work, or it's a relationship with someone else who isn't right for you. There will be something you both have to decide together."

Slowly, Jamie drags his teeth across his lower lip. "Mm-hm," is all he can manage. "Huh."

"Now don't laugh at this," Selina adds. "I say what I see, and I'm not just saying this because your friend Eddie is sitting right here, but your wife will have blonde hair and blue eyes-"

Eddie gasps again, dramatically this time, offering an insulted dip in her brow. "Who is she? Now I'm jealous."

Selina shrugs defensively. "I assure you I don't just say those things unless I see it in the card, or I sense it in your energy."

Jamie's head drops as he shakes it in amusement. "Yeah, yeah. So you can tell me all that, but you can't tell me where she is."

"That's for you to discover," she offers sweetly and Jamie merely responds with an exhausted groan. "Now," she reaches for her deck of cards and smiles across the table from them. "Is there anything else you want to know?"

* * *

"I cannot believe that you agreed to have a psychic reading." Eddie muses this with a grin as they make their way back out into the cold January air, the door to the medium closing behind them.

"Um. I wouldn't classify that as agreeing so much as I just sat there while it happened to me," Jamie insists.

She giggles, hugging her jacket to herself as she folds her arms over her chest. "Do you feel in tune with your enlightened present, Jamie Reagan?"

"She probably says she same shit to everyone." His hands slip into the pockets of his jeans as their easy pace carries them toward the entrance to the subway at Delancey Street. "Heartbreak in the past. Moving forward. Finding someone new. It's like… ambiguous and vague, and it could apply to anybody."

"Is that all you got out of that? Come on, Reagan. She had you totally pegged. Don't tell me you're not the least bit convinced."

"I'm not the least bit convinced." He shrugs.

"Ugh! You hermit," she grumbles.

He laughs down at the sidewalk. "She did say I have a solid… powerful energy, though." When he says it, his voice lowers with a smug satisfaction and Eddie hates that it has an effect on her.

"Oh please. I thought she said the same shit to everyone!"

"Well that, I'll give her credit for-"

She knocks against him with her shoulder as her nose scrunches with her amusement. "I don't want to hear about your _solid_ anything."

His laughter makes his head tip back and Eddie glances up at him, her gaze unintentionally lingering on the curve of his throat.

"It does make me happy, though, that you went there with me," she tells him. "Even if you thought it was all bogus."

"It wasn't bad."

Her lips twitch as her gaze narrows up at him. "Maybe you're the one who needs to be taking risks."

Stopping at the corner, his eyes meet hers with a playful glare, shining in the glow of downtown neon. "Maybe."

"I'll be on the lookout for any… charming, mysterious blondes who could make a grumpy hermit like you happy."

He doesn't say anything. The angles of his face shift and curve with a gentle nod and he sniffs a soft laugh.

"I'm gonna take the F train." Eddie loosely gestures behind her. "You?"

"I'm headed the other way, so-" He directs his chin to the station across the street.

"So I'll see you at One-PP, I guess."

He clears his throat. "Yeah. Don't stress, I'm sure it's nothing."

With a gradual nod, she backs away, nearing the staircase that descends underground. "Hey-" She starts, pressing her lips together in thought. "Do you really think we would have met anyway, even if I'd never become a cop?"

A soft smile tilts across Jamie's lips as he peers back at her. "You know I don't do hypothetical questions, Eddie. I just said that because I knew you'd like it."

With a heavy sigh, she rolls her eyes, but blinks sweetly at him anyway. "Fine. I'll see you on Monday."

"But yes," he decides. "I do think we would have met anyway." He finishes with a little quirk at his cheek that wrinkles his nose.

Eddie's heart tumbles in this way she doesn't expect and the heat that surrounds it flares deep into her core. Summoning enough room in her lungs, she inhales some fresh air. And just before she dips down the first step beneath the streetlight, she returns the look. "Goodnight, partner."

Lingering there for a moment, she's at peace with the feeling that courses through her that she is exactly where she's supposed to be.


End file.
